Syria-Lebanon pullout 'nears end'

In January Syria still had a 14,000-strong presence in Lebanon

Syria is close to completing its withdrawal from neighbouring Lebanon, Syrian and Lebanese officials say.

More than 100 military vehicles, including tanks and personnel carriers, left on Saturday, witnesses said.

Unnamed officials said the troops would leave Lebanon by Tuesday - four days before Damascus' deadline of 30 April - after attending a farewell ceremony.

Syria has been under intense pressure to withdraw since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syrian troops moved heavy artillery out of the country, burned documents and dismantled military posts.

Syrian intelligence chiefs too, are expected to leave the country by Tuesday.

Opposition politicians and many Lebanese believe Syria was behind the deadly car bomb and that the Lebanese security services, which have tended to come under Syria's sway, were somehow involved.

UN report

Syria says it was not involved, and security service officials deny any wrongdoing.

The United Nations Security Council is conducting an investigation into Hariri's death.

An initial fact-finding mission concluded that Lebanon's own investigation, carried out by the Lebanese security services, suffered from "serious flaws" and could not reach a credible conclusion.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week announced he would wait until Tuesday before releasing a report on Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon.

A UN team will be dispatched to Beirut to confirm the pullout has been completed.

Syrian troops have been in Lebanon for 29 years.